Marathon swim

Fridays are supposed to be "long swim day" and even though the GB training plan that I'm on calls for only 2 swim workouts this week, I decided to do the long swim anyway (which was my 3rd swim of the week). I feel very good about that decision as I am nowhere near where Gail has her athletes at this point in terms of the swim. And it's a huge confidence builder for me to swim for that long.

So, Kurt and I got to the pool by 7:00, a full half hour later than we had planned. He had the day off and so did the kids so it worked out ok.

I got in the pool at 7:02 and swam non-stop until 7:37, at which time I needed to use the restroom. The 35 mins went fairly fast - I was surprised - and I didn't really want to get out. However, once I did, it was hard to get going again. That bothers me a little!

After I got back in, I could feel how tired my arms were. They literally ached. I swam a few slow laps and started losing steam. Not good. This is not what I want to have happen at the IM. I hadn't carbo-loaded so that was a factor but still, I was hoping to feel stronger.

I swam slowly until 7:54 and got out. My arms were hurting so bad that it wasn't worth it to go on, esp when I was not supposed to be swimming anyway.

But as the day wore on, I am feeling better about doing the swim (vs following the plan and not swimming). Most IM finishers will tell you to make sure you put in a lot of hours swimming and I don't feel that I have. I've only done a few long swims and since we have 3 weeks to go, I thought this was good to do it today.

Now, 6 hrs later, my arms are really sore and tired. Three weeks is enough time to heal.

I spent some time watching YouTube videos of the IM race. Found some that were stories of people overcoming incredible odds to finish the race. They were so inpiring - several brought tears to my eyes. I am honored to be in the company of so many strong-willed people.

I also just read Jim Fuller's race report from Hawaii. His self-less attitude and perseverance in the face of very tough conditions (hot and windy) is very inspiring to me. It gives me a different perspective on things. And I need that right now.